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Topic: What is "healthy" at this time of year? (Read 619 times)

I inspected my 2 hives today. I feel a little disappointed. I guess I was expecting more progress and now I'm worried.

Both colonies were started from packages installed on April 20. One of the hives got started late due to a failed queen which I replaced in mid-May. The other hive started off with a bang but seems to be slowing down considerably if you measure in terms of capped frames.

Is this normal? Is it a dearth? Should I be feeding? Should I combine?

Here is the situation:

Hive A: Italians: 2 medium boxes: top box is partially drawn out and I see eggs but not many bees and not very much activity presumably because of the late start with the queen troubles and progressive die-off of older bees.

Hive B: Russians: 3 medium boxes: bottom 2 boxes are completely drawn out and capped and top hive box is partially drawn out but with little nectar or pollen. A lot of bees but they don't seem to be making much progress on that 3rd box.

Are these hives doing well? I have no idea. I know I won't take honey this year and that's ok. I just would like to get them through the winter.

Sounds fair. They may not need storage comb in the top boxes if there is no flow on, especially in the summer, when there isn't much forage. Keep an eye to make sure they have food. Things will pick up when the fall flowers start blooming.

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